Lesson 1. Introduction to AutoCAD.

Introduction

CAD is an abbreviation for Computer-Aided Design. It is the process used to

design and draft components on your computer. This process includes creating designs

and drawings of the product or system. AutoCAD is a CAD software package developed

and marketed by Autodesk Inc. It can be used to create two-dimensional (2D) and

three-dimensional (3D) models of products. These models can be transferred to other

computer programs for further analysis and testing. In addition, you can convert these

computer models into numerical data. This numerical data can be used in

manufacturing equipment such as machining centers, lathes, mills, or rapid prototyping

machines to manufacture the product.

AutoCAD is one of the first CAD software packages. It was introduced in the

year 1982. Since that time, it has become the industry leader among all CAD products.

It is the most widely used CAD software. The commands and concepts introduced by

AutoCAD are utilized by other systems. As a student, learning AutoCAD provides you

with a greater advantage as compared to any other CAD software.

AutoCAD user interface

When you double-click the AutoCAD 2016 icon on the desktop, the AutoCAD
2016 initial screen will appear.

On the Initial Screen, click Start Drawing to open a new drawing file. The drawing
file consists of a graphics window, ribbon, menu bar, toolbars, command line, and other
screen components, depending on the workspace that you have selected.
STATUS BAR

Status Bar is located at the bottom of the AutoCAD window. It contains many
buttons which help you to create a drawing very easily. You can turn ON or OFF these
buttons just by clicking on them. Some buttons are hidden by default. You can display
more buttons on the status bar by clicking the Customization button at the bottom right
corner and selecting the options from the menu. The buttons available on the status bar
are briefly discussed in the following section.
Methods of Calling Tools
 Tools can be brought into operation (called) using one of the following four
methods:

Fig. 2.1 Selecting the tool’s name from a panel in the ribbon

1. Clicking on the tool’s icon in its panel in the ribbon. Fig. 2.1 shows the Polyline
tool being selected from the Draw panel.

Fig. 2.1 Selecting the tool’s name from a panel in the ribbon
2. Clicking on Polyline in a drop-down menu. Fig. 2.2 shows the Polyline tool being
selected from the Draw drop-down menu.

3. Entering the name of the tool at the keyboard, followed by a right-click.

4. Entering an abbreviation for a tool’s name at the keyboard, followed by a right-click.

Exercise no. 1.
Methods of constructing the following exercises can be found in this video:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=YZcTY5dSO4U

1. Construct the polyline outline given in the figure.

2. Construct the polyline outline given in the Figure. The figures along the plines are
the lengths of the plines in coordinate units.
3. Construct the polyline outline given in the Figure below. There are a sufficient number
of x,y coordinate figures shown to allow the whole outline to be constructed.

4. The figure shows a polyline outline of width = 4. Construct the given outline, working
out the missing x,y coordinates.
COMMAND LIST
Various commands in AutoCAD are given in the table below: